Teamwork pays off as coaches rise to the challenge of playing for laughs

In an enormous stately home near Berkhamsted that now houses Ashridge Business School, a bunch of football coaches are telling each other tall tales. Split into pairs, they have been invited to create a yarn, one sentence at a time. Passing the plot back and forth as they might a ball, they are building on the opening line: “Gabriel walked out into the street.” Within no more than a minute, one pair has Gabriel naked up a tree, another has him being chased by the Queen riding a moped, while a third has thrust him into the midst of a steamy affair with David Attenborough’s wife. Which is not the kind of material you often hear at a manager’s press conference. Under the vaulted ceilings and preposterous chandeliers of Ashridge, more than 80 academy coaches have gathered for a residential training programme run by the Premier League. At no point today will any of them go anywhere near kicking a ball. Rather, they are taking part in a comedy improvisation workshop, run by a group called The Comedy School. They are learning some tricks of the trade as they build up to putting on an improvised show of their own, staged in front of their peers. “Seriously, soon as I saw there was going to be a performance at the end of the day, I was thinking how I could get out of it,” says Carl Martin, the former Crewe Alexandra player who coaches Watford’s under-18 squad. “This is way out of my comfort zone.” Which is largely the point. The course is a Premier League initiative to complement the education programmes all the coaches are currently undertaking. While Uefa licences largely centre on learning how to deliver coaching sessions, this is about personal development. Comedy and coaching share a surprising number of transferable skills Credit: Julian Simmonds Across 12 different away days spread over two years, the coaches will do everything from spending a weekend being put through their paces by the SAS in the Brecon Beacons to learning how to project their voice at the Royal Shakespeare Company. And today they are engaging with improvised comedy, under the stewardship of a bunch of veterans of the renowned Comedy Store Players. “The guys are convinced they won’t be able to do it,” says Pippa Evans, who has taught the skills of improv to everyone from lawyers to ex-offenders. “Actually they’ll soon find anyone can. The point is, everyone is funny.” As soon becomes apparent as the coaches spend much of their day roaring with laughter at each other’s antics. “There was a bit of scepticism when we first started,” says Simone Lewis, the Premier League’s head of curriculum learning and development, of the course. “But that quickly disappeared as it has become clear how much can be learnt from other businesses and sports in terms of stress and conflict management. The idea is to be challenged by doing something that you would never otherwise dream of doing.” Among those being challenged is Darius Vassell, these days a coach at the Wolves academy. He may have once taken a spot-kick for England in a penalty shoot-out, but he can never have dreamt that one day he would be standing in the middle of a circle of 20 other coaches following a shouted-out instruction that he mime being bludgeoned to death by an aubergine. “It’s been a right laugh so far,” he says, during a break for coffee. “I must admit at first I asked myself, enjoyable as this is, how on earth does it relate to coaching? But actually the more we’ve done, the more I can see its relevance. Football is all about being spontaneous. “And I found as a player the more confident you are, the more instinctive you can be. What this is doing is showing us how to be confident even about something we’d never imagine ourselves doing.” Plus, he believes, comedy can be a more than useful tool for the coach. “You have to be careful though,” he says. “You can’t use humour to belittle. But you can use it to bond the group. I remember the funniest coach I had was Steve Harrison, who was assistant to John Gregory at the Villa. He was hilarious, a full-on, pull-the-tablecloth-off-the-table, fall-down-the-stairs practical joker. It was brilliant for team spirit. That said, I’m not sure the manager himself can be a stand-up comedian. As the main man, he needs to be taken seriously.” To Vassell’s approval, there is no belittling here. Importantly, everything is collaborative. One of the first exercises the coaches do involves swapping storylines. They try it by saying “yes, and” at the start of every sentence. Then they try it by saying “no, but”. They quickly discover that “no, but” soon kills the narrative; the more positive the language, the more likely the improvisation will soar. Vassell gets some laughs from his fellow coaches Credit: Julian Simmonds “I’ve done all sorts of groups and these guys have got it very quickly,” says Luke Sorba, the comedian leading the session. “But then improvisation is a team sport. When an improviser gets on stage, it’s like when a footballer goes on the pitch: you know the rules but you’ve no idea of the outcome. What we have in common is that we’re in a place we can’t control, but we’re cool with that as long as we work together to try to embrace it.” That co-operation is put to the test at the climax of the day’s improvisation. In the ballroom, a stage has been constructed, there are spotlights and an electric piano to provide musical accompaniment. This is showtime. Sorba acts as compere for a bout of competitive improv. In groups, the coaches go through their paces in a bunch of improv set-pieces, acting on instructions shouted from the audience. And while, in truth, Paul Merton need not be too alarmed about a threat to his pre-eminence as the country’s foremost comedy improviser, what is surprising, as they make up tales about WWE wrestlers and midgets stealing all the jelly babies, is how imaginative the coaches are. Not to mention how infrequently they reach for the rude to raise a laugh. “Eighteen minutes before anyone’s used the word penis,” announces Sorba at one point. “I think that is a record.” When it is all done, when the laughter has settled, the participants compare notes. “Fact is, as a coach you have to improvise all the time,” says Vassell. “I think this has really helped me how to challenge the fear of feeling uncomfortable.” Which, you suspect, is a technique that will come in more than useful if one day he were to become a manager.

Teamwork pays off as coaches rise to the challenge of playing for laughs

In an enormous stately home near Berkhamsted that now houses Ashridge Business School, a bunch of football coaches are telling each other tall tales. Split into pairs, they have been invited to create a yarn, one sentence at a time. Passing the plot back and forth as they might a ball, they are building on the opening line: “Gabriel walked out into the street.” Within no more than a minute, one pair has Gabriel naked up a tree, another has him being chased by the Queen riding a moped, while a third has thrust him into the midst of a steamy affair with David Attenborough’s wife. Which is not the kind of material you often hear at a manager’s press conference. Under the vaulted ceilings and preposterous chandeliers of Ashridge, more than 80 academy coaches have gathered for a residential training programme run by the Premier League. At no point today will any of them go anywhere near kicking a ball. Rather, they are taking part in a comedy improvisation workshop, run by a group called The Comedy School. They are learning some tricks of the trade as they build up to putting on an improvised show of their own, staged in front of their peers. “Seriously, soon as I saw there was going to be a performance at the end of the day, I was thinking how I could get out of it,” says Carl Martin, the former Crewe Alexandra player who coaches Watford’s under-18 squad. “This is way out of my comfort zone.” Which is largely the point. The course is a Premier League initiative to complement the education programmes all the coaches are currently undertaking. While Uefa licences largely centre on learning how to deliver coaching sessions, this is about personal development. Comedy and coaching share a surprising number of transferable skills Credit: Julian Simmonds Across 12 different away days spread over two years, the coaches will do everything from spending a weekend being put through their paces by the SAS in the Brecon Beacons to learning how to project their voice at the Royal Shakespeare Company. And today they are engaging with improvised comedy, under the stewardship of a bunch of veterans of the renowned Comedy Store Players. “The guys are convinced they won’t be able to do it,” says Pippa Evans, who has taught the skills of improv to everyone from lawyers to ex-offenders. “Actually they’ll soon find anyone can. The point is, everyone is funny.” As soon becomes apparent as the coaches spend much of their day roaring with laughter at each other’s antics. “There was a bit of scepticism when we first started,” says Simone Lewis, the Premier League’s head of curriculum learning and development, of the course. “But that quickly disappeared as it has become clear how much can be learnt from other businesses and sports in terms of stress and conflict management. The idea is to be challenged by doing something that you would never otherwise dream of doing.” Among those being challenged is Darius Vassell, these days a coach at the Wolves academy. He may have once taken a spot-kick for England in a penalty shoot-out, but he can never have dreamt that one day he would be standing in the middle of a circle of 20 other coaches following a shouted-out instruction that he mime being bludgeoned to death by an aubergine. “It’s been a right laugh so far,” he says, during a break for coffee. “I must admit at first I asked myself, enjoyable as this is, how on earth does it relate to coaching? But actually the more we’ve done, the more I can see its relevance. Football is all about being spontaneous. “And I found as a player the more confident you are, the more instinctive you can be. What this is doing is showing us how to be confident even about something we’d never imagine ourselves doing.” Plus, he believes, comedy can be a more than useful tool for the coach. “You have to be careful though,” he says. “You can’t use humour to belittle. But you can use it to bond the group. I remember the funniest coach I had was Steve Harrison, who was assistant to John Gregory at the Villa. He was hilarious, a full-on, pull-the-tablecloth-off-the-table, fall-down-the-stairs practical joker. It was brilliant for team spirit. That said, I’m not sure the manager himself can be a stand-up comedian. As the main man, he needs to be taken seriously.” To Vassell’s approval, there is no belittling here. Importantly, everything is collaborative. One of the first exercises the coaches do involves swapping storylines. They try it by saying “yes, and” at the start of every sentence. Then they try it by saying “no, but”. They quickly discover that “no, but” soon kills the narrative; the more positive the language, the more likely the improvisation will soar. Vassell gets some laughs from his fellow coaches Credit: Julian Simmonds “I’ve done all sorts of groups and these guys have got it very quickly,” says Luke Sorba, the comedian leading the session. “But then improvisation is a team sport. When an improviser gets on stage, it’s like when a footballer goes on the pitch: you know the rules but you’ve no idea of the outcome. What we have in common is that we’re in a place we can’t control, but we’re cool with that as long as we work together to try to embrace it.” That co-operation is put to the test at the climax of the day’s improvisation. In the ballroom, a stage has been constructed, there are spotlights and an electric piano to provide musical accompaniment. This is showtime. Sorba acts as compere for a bout of competitive improv. In groups, the coaches go through their paces in a bunch of improv set-pieces, acting on instructions shouted from the audience. And while, in truth, Paul Merton need not be too alarmed about a threat to his pre-eminence as the country’s foremost comedy improviser, what is surprising, as they make up tales about WWE wrestlers and midgets stealing all the jelly babies, is how imaginative the coaches are. Not to mention how infrequently they reach for the rude to raise a laugh. “Eighteen minutes before anyone’s used the word penis,” announces Sorba at one point. “I think that is a record.” When it is all done, when the laughter has settled, the participants compare notes. “Fact is, as a coach you have to improvise all the time,” says Vassell. “I think this has really helped me how to challenge the fear of feeling uncomfortable.” Which, you suspect, is a technique that will come in more than useful if one day he were to become a manager.

Teamwork pays off as coaches rise to the challenge of playing for laughs

In an enormous stately home near Berkhamsted that now houses Ashridge Business School, a bunch of football coaches are telling each other tall tales. Split into pairs, they have been invited to create a yarn, one sentence at a time. Passing the plot back and forth as they might a ball, they are building on the opening line: “Gabriel walked out into the street.” Within no more than a minute, one pair has Gabriel naked up a tree, another has him being chased by the Queen riding a moped, while a third has thrust him into the midst of a steamy affair with David Attenborough’s wife. Which is not the kind of material you often hear at a manager’s press conference. Under the vaulted ceilings and preposterous chandeliers of Ashridge, more than 80 academy coaches have gathered for a residential training programme run by the Premier League. At no point today will any of them go anywhere near kicking a ball. Rather, they are taking part in a comedy improvisation workshop, run by a group called The Comedy School. They are learning some tricks of the trade as they build up to putting on an improvised show of their own, staged in front of their peers. “Seriously, soon as I saw there was going to be a performance at the end of the day, I was thinking how I could get out of it,” says Carl Martin, the former Crewe Alexandra player who coaches Watford’s under-18 squad. “This is way out of my comfort zone.” Which is largely the point. The course is a Premier League initiative to complement the education programmes all the coaches are currently undertaking. While Uefa licences largely centre on learning how to deliver coaching sessions, this is about personal development. Comedy and coaching share a surprising number of transferable skills Credit: Julian Simmonds Across 12 different away days spread over two years, the coaches will do everything from spending a weekend being put through their paces by the SAS in the Brecon Beacons to learning how to project their voice at the Royal Shakespeare Company. And today they are engaging with improvised comedy, under the stewardship of a bunch of veterans of the renowned Comedy Store Players. “The guys are convinced they won’t be able to do it,” says Pippa Evans, who has taught the skills of improv to everyone from lawyers to ex-offenders. “Actually they’ll soon find anyone can. The point is, everyone is funny.” As soon becomes apparent as the coaches spend much of their day roaring with laughter at each other’s antics. “There was a bit of scepticism when we first started,” says Simone Lewis, the Premier League’s head of curriculum learning and development, of the course. “But that quickly disappeared as it has become clear how much can be learnt from other businesses and sports in terms of stress and conflict management. The idea is to be challenged by doing something that you would never otherwise dream of doing.” Among those being challenged is Darius Vassell, these days a coach at the Wolves academy. He may have once taken a spot-kick for England in a penalty shoot-out, but he can never have dreamt that one day he would be standing in the middle of a circle of 20 other coaches following a shouted-out instruction that he mime being bludgeoned to death by an aubergine. “It’s been a right laugh so far,” he says, during a break for coffee. “I must admit at first I asked myself, enjoyable as this is, how on earth does it relate to coaching? But actually the more we’ve done, the more I can see its relevance. Football is all about being spontaneous. “And I found as a player the more confident you are, the more instinctive you can be. What this is doing is showing us how to be confident even about something we’d never imagine ourselves doing.” Plus, he believes, comedy can be a more than useful tool for the coach. “You have to be careful though,” he says. “You can’t use humour to belittle. But you can use it to bond the group. I remember the funniest coach I had was Steve Harrison, who was assistant to John Gregory at the Villa. He was hilarious, a full-on, pull-the-tablecloth-off-the-table, fall-down-the-stairs practical joker. It was brilliant for team spirit. That said, I’m not sure the manager himself can be a stand-up comedian. As the main man, he needs to be taken seriously.” To Vassell’s approval, there is no belittling here. Importantly, everything is collaborative. One of the first exercises the coaches do involves swapping storylines. They try it by saying “yes, and” at the start of every sentence. Then they try it by saying “no, but”. They quickly discover that “no, but” soon kills the narrative; the more positive the language, the more likely the improvisation will soar. Vassell gets some laughs from his fellow coaches Credit: Julian Simmonds “I’ve done all sorts of groups and these guys have got it very quickly,” says Luke Sorba, the comedian leading the session. “But then improvisation is a team sport. When an improviser gets on stage, it’s like when a footballer goes on the pitch: you know the rules but you’ve no idea of the outcome. What we have in common is that we’re in a place we can’t control, but we’re cool with that as long as we work together to try to embrace it.” That co-operation is put to the test at the climax of the day’s improvisation. In the ballroom, a stage has been constructed, there are spotlights and an electric piano to provide musical accompaniment. This is showtime. Sorba acts as compere for a bout of competitive improv. In groups, the coaches go through their paces in a bunch of improv set-pieces, acting on instructions shouted from the audience. And while, in truth, Paul Merton need not be too alarmed about a threat to his pre-eminence as the country’s foremost comedy improviser, what is surprising, as they make up tales about WWE wrestlers and midgets stealing all the jelly babies, is how imaginative the coaches are. Not to mention how infrequently they reach for the rude to raise a laugh. “Eighteen minutes before anyone’s used the word penis,” announces Sorba at one point. “I think that is a record.” When it is all done, when the laughter has settled, the participants compare notes. “Fact is, as a coach you have to improvise all the time,” says Vassell. “I think this has really helped me how to challenge the fear of feeling uncomfortable.” Which, you suspect, is a technique that will come in more than useful if one day he were to become a manager.

FA Cup second round draw National League side AFC Fylde will host 2013 FA Cup winners Wigan in the second round of the competition. Fylde, through to this stage of the competition for the first time in their history following a victory over Kidderminster, were paired with the League One side when the second round draw was made on Monday. Fylde's fellow non-League side Boreham Wood will also face former winners of the competition in the shape of Coventry, who lifted the cup in 1987. Coventry will be at home for the tie. There were a total of 12 non-League sides in the draw. National League South Oxford City were drawn away to Notts County. Seventh-tier Hereford, the lowest-ranked side through to the second round, will face either Chorley or Fleetwood after their tie on Monday night. Leatherhead, who are ranked lower than Hereford, would go away to Wycombe if they win their replay against Billericay Town. Woking or Bury vs Tranmere or Peterborough MK Dons v Maidstone United Newport Co v Cambridge Utd Wycombe v Leatherhead or Billericay Port Vale v Yeovil Town Shrewsbury v Morecambe Doncaster Rovers v Northampton or Scunthorpe Slough Town v Rochdale AFC Wimbledon v Charlton Athletic Stevenage v Swindon Town Mansfield Town v Guiseley or Accrington Stanley Gateshead v Luton Town Bradford City v Plymouth Argyle Blackburn Rovers v Crewe Alexandra AFC Fylde v Wigan Athletic Gillingham v Carlisle Utd Notts Co v Oxford City Forest Green v Exeter City Chorley or Fleetwood v Hereford Coventry City v Boreham Wood Town 7:28PM There you go Everyone present with 'Mark' Chapman professes themselves pleased with the draw. There's not much more I can add to the raw draw. Enjoy! Thanks for your company. 7:24PM TV picks I would guess would be Slough v Rochdale and Fylde v Wigan. Gateshead v Luton would be worth watching. 7:23PM The second round draw in full Woking or Bury vs Tranmere or Peterborough MK Dons v Maidstone United Newport Co v Cambridge Utd Wycombe v Leatherhead or Billericay Port Vale v Yeovil Town Shrewsbury v Morecambe Doncaster Rovers v Northampton or Scunthorpe Slough Town v Rochdale AFC Wimbledon v Charlton Athletic Stevenage v Swindon Town Mansfield Town v Guiseley or Accrington Stanley Gateshead v Luton Town Bradford City v Plymouth Argyle Blackburn Rovers v Crewe Alexandra AFC Fylde v Wigan Athletic Gillingham v Carlisle Utd Notts Co v Oxford City Forest Green v Exeter City Chorley or Fleetwood v Hereford Coventry City v Boreham Wood 7:19PM Tie 20 Coventry City v Boreham Wood 7:19PM Tie 19 Chorley or Fleetwood v Hereford 7:18PM Tie 18 Forest Green v Exeter City 7:18PM Tie 17 Notts Co v Oxford City 7:18PM Tie 16 Gillingham v Carlisle Utd 7:17PM Tie 15 AFC Fylde v Wigan Athletic 7:17PM Tie 14 Blackburn Rovers v Crewe Alexandra 7:17PM Tie 13 Bradford City v Plymouth Argyle 7:16PM Tie 12 Gateshead v Luton Town 7:16PM Tie 11 Mansfield Town v Guiseley or Accrington Stanley 7:16PM Tie 10 Stevenage v Swindon Town 7:16PM Tie nine AFC Wimbledon v Charlton Athletic 7:15PM Tie eight Slough Town v Rochdale 7:15PM Tie seven Donny Rovers v Northampton or Scunthorpe 7:15PM Tie six Shrewsbury v Morecambe 7:14PM Tie five Port Vale v Yeovil Town 7:14PM Tie four Wycombe v Leatherhead or Billericay 7:14PM Tie three Newport Co v Cambridge Utd 7:13PM Tie two MK Dons v Maidstone United 7:13PM First out Woking or Bury vs Tranmere or Peterborough 7:10PM Andy Cole and Kevin Davies Will draw the balls. 7:10PM Here we go The BBC hands over to BT Sport 7:09PM The draw will take place in 10 minutes Mark Chapman interviews Saturday's Slough Town heroes who thrashed Gainsborough Trinity 6-0. Everyone displays his/her poppy pinned to a tracksuit top. Chapman has his in his buttonhole. I'm perplexed that Chapman, a Manc, allows himself to be called 'Chappers'. That's a bit rah, isn't it? 'Chappy', 'Chap', 'grizzly' or 'face farm' would be far more Manc 7:03PM Former winners Bradford, Charlton, Blackburn, Wimbledon (oh, yes), Coventry and Wigan are all in the 'hat'. I use the quotation marks advisedly, unless you favour adorning your swede with a jaunty, plastic transparent bowl. And let's face it, who doesn't. 6:51PM Good evening All first-round winners have bagged their £18,000 prize money and set off in pursuit of the £27,000 on offer for a victory in the second round this evening. What, it's not about the money, it's about the glory? Could have fooled me after years of Premier League and Championship numpties fielding scratch sides to concentrate on the consolidation of 12th place. For years the FA has allowed its Challenge Cup to be abused by myopic, soulless blowhards and yet it still thrives. We shall celebrate it here today as we find out who stands in the way of teams on the next leg of the road to Wembley (for the semi-finals! Gah! See what they've done there? Audrey, the screens!) 6:40PM A second-round FA Cup draw primer What is it? It's the draw for the second round of the 2017 FA Cup. When is it? It's on Monday November 6. - ie today. What time does it start? It will begin after 19.00 GMT - before the Chorley vs Fleetwood match on Monday night. What TV channel is it on? The match and draw will be on BT Sport 1 and BBC 2. Alternatively, you can follow the draw here. What's left of this weekend's action? First-round review Exeter assistant manager Matt Oakley was delighted to progress to round two of the FA Cup after seeing his side see off gallant Heybridge Swifts 3-1 at St James' Park. Two Jayden Stockley goals shortly past the hour mark gave the Grecians a commanding lead, but Samuel Bentick turned in a cross to reduce the arrears and give the Swifts hope. But any hopes of a comeback were ended by Liam McAlinden, whose shot squeezed through the legs of goalkeeper Danny Sambridge, much to the relief of Oakley, who was standing in for the absent Paul Tisdale. "I'm very pleased. It was a banana skin waiting to happen for us, when you see the draw come out," Oakley said. Relief for Exeter as they see off Heybridge Swifts Credit: PA "I am very pleased with the result, very pleased with the second half performance and pleased to come in at half-time with a clean sheet. "We had a very difficult time at Warrington a few years ago when we conceded after a few minutes and we couldn't break them down after that. It was one of the messages we talked about before the game, so I was very pleased. "They put us under a lot of pressure and probably came out after the first half with a bit more confidence than we did. I thought we started the game really well, I was really pleased with the start, but then we started losing the ball and a few misplaced touches and they grew in confidence and came into it. "They didn't threaten our goal too much, so I wasn't too worried about it. We just needed to tighten up in certain areas and improve our attacking play in wide areas and we did that well in the second half." What are the draw numbers? STEVENAGE BRADFORD CITY PORT VALE NEWPORT COUNTY MORECAMBE YEOVIL TOWN PETERBOROUGH UNITED OR TRANMERE ROVERS CAMBRIDGE UNITED FOREST GREEN ROVERS AFC FYLDE LUTON TOWN SHREWSBURY TOWN HEREFORD GUISELEY OR ACCRINGTON STANLEY BLACKBURN ROVERS DONCASTER ROVERS LEATHERHEAD OR BILLERICAY TOWN BOREHAM WOOD MANSFIELD TOWN OXFORD CITY PLYMOUTH ARGYLE AFC WIMBLEDON ROCHDALE COVENTRY CITY CHORLEY OR FLEETWOOD TOWN CARLISLE UNITED NOTTS COUNTY SWINDON TOWN MAIDSTONE UNITED WOKING OR BURY CREWE ALEXANDRA GILLINGHAM MILTON KEYNES DONS SLOUGH TOWN WYCOMBE WANDERERS NORTHAMPTON TOWN OR SCUNTHORPE UNITED CHARLTON ATHELTIC WIGAN ATHLETIC GATESHEAD EXETER CITY When will the second round fixtures take place? Weekend of December 2 and 3. What are the latest FA Cup odds? Chelsea - 5/1 Man City - 5/1 Man Utd - 6/1 Tottenham - 8/1 Arsenal - 8/1 Liverpool - 9/1

FA Cup second round draw National League side AFC Fylde will host 2013 FA Cup winners Wigan in the second round of the competition. Fylde, through to this stage of the competition for the first time in their history following a victory over Kidderminster, were paired with the League One side when the second round draw was made on Monday. Fylde's fellow non-League side Boreham Wood will also face former winners of the competition in the shape of Coventry, who lifted the cup in 1987. Coventry will be at home for the tie. There were a total of 12 non-League sides in the draw. National League South Oxford City were drawn away to Notts County. Seventh-tier Hereford, the lowest-ranked side through to the second round, will face either Chorley or Fleetwood after their tie on Monday night. Leatherhead, who are ranked lower than Hereford, would go away to Wycombe if they win their replay against Billericay Town. Woking or Bury vs Tranmere or Peterborough MK Dons v Maidstone United Newport Co v Cambridge Utd Wycombe v Leatherhead or Billericay Port Vale v Yeovil Town Shrewsbury v Morecambe Doncaster Rovers v Northampton or Scunthorpe Slough Town v Rochdale AFC Wimbledon v Charlton Athletic Stevenage v Swindon Town Mansfield Town v Guiseley or Accrington Stanley Gateshead v Luton Town Bradford City v Plymouth Argyle Blackburn Rovers v Crewe Alexandra AFC Fylde v Wigan Athletic Gillingham v Carlisle Utd Notts Co v Oxford City Forest Green v Exeter City Chorley or Fleetwood v Hereford Coventry City v Boreham Wood Town 7:28PM There you go Everyone present with 'Mark' Chapman professes themselves pleased with the draw. There's not much more I can add to the raw draw. Enjoy! Thanks for your company. 7:24PM TV picks I would guess would be Slough v Rochdale and Fylde v Wigan. Gateshead v Luton would be worth watching. 7:23PM The second round draw in full Woking or Bury vs Tranmere or Peterborough MK Dons v Maidstone United Newport Co v Cambridge Utd Wycombe v Leatherhead or Billericay Port Vale v Yeovil Town Shrewsbury v Morecambe Doncaster Rovers v Northampton or Scunthorpe Slough Town v Rochdale AFC Wimbledon v Charlton Athletic Stevenage v Swindon Town Mansfield Town v Guiseley or Accrington Stanley Gateshead v Luton Town Bradford City v Plymouth Argyle Blackburn Rovers v Crewe Alexandra AFC Fylde v Wigan Athletic Gillingham v Carlisle Utd Notts Co v Oxford City Forest Green v Exeter City Chorley or Fleetwood v Hereford Coventry City v Boreham Wood 7:19PM Tie 20 Coventry City v Boreham Wood 7:19PM Tie 19 Chorley or Fleetwood v Hereford 7:18PM Tie 18 Forest Green v Exeter City 7:18PM Tie 17 Notts Co v Oxford City 7:18PM Tie 16 Gillingham v Carlisle Utd 7:17PM Tie 15 AFC Fylde v Wigan Athletic 7:17PM Tie 14 Blackburn Rovers v Crewe Alexandra 7:17PM Tie 13 Bradford City v Plymouth Argyle 7:16PM Tie 12 Gateshead v Luton Town 7:16PM Tie 11 Mansfield Town v Guiseley or Accrington Stanley 7:16PM Tie 10 Stevenage v Swindon Town 7:16PM Tie nine AFC Wimbledon v Charlton Athletic 7:15PM Tie eight Slough Town v Rochdale 7:15PM Tie seven Donny Rovers v Northampton or Scunthorpe 7:15PM Tie six Shrewsbury v Morecambe 7:14PM Tie five Port Vale v Yeovil Town 7:14PM Tie four Wycombe v Leatherhead or Billericay 7:14PM Tie three Newport Co v Cambridge Utd 7:13PM Tie two MK Dons v Maidstone United 7:13PM First out Woking or Bury vs Tranmere or Peterborough 7:10PM Andy Cole and Kevin Davies Will draw the balls. 7:10PM Here we go The BBC hands over to BT Sport 7:09PM The draw will take place in 10 minutes Mark Chapman interviews Saturday's Slough Town heroes who thrashed Gainsborough Trinity 6-0. Everyone displays his/her poppy pinned to a tracksuit top. Chapman has his in his buttonhole. I'm perplexed that Chapman, a Manc, allows himself to be called 'Chappers'. That's a bit rah, isn't it? 'Chappy', 'Chap', 'grizzly' or 'face farm' would be far more Manc 7:03PM Former winners Bradford, Charlton, Blackburn, Wimbledon (oh, yes), Coventry and Wigan are all in the 'hat'. I use the quotation marks advisedly, unless you favour adorning your swede with a jaunty, plastic transparent bowl. And let's face it, who doesn't. 6:51PM Good evening All first-round winners have bagged their £18,000 prize money and set off in pursuit of the £27,000 on offer for a victory in the second round this evening. What, it's not about the money, it's about the glory? Could have fooled me after years of Premier League and Championship numpties fielding scratch sides to concentrate on the consolidation of 12th place. For years the FA has allowed its Challenge Cup to be abused by myopic, soulless blowhards and yet it still thrives. We shall celebrate it here today as we find out who stands in the way of teams on the next leg of the road to Wembley (for the semi-finals! Gah! See what they've done there? Audrey, the screens!) 6:40PM A second-round FA Cup draw primer What is it? It's the draw for the second round of the 2017 FA Cup. When is it? It's on Monday November 6. - ie today. What time does it start? It will begin after 19.00 GMT - before the Chorley vs Fleetwood match on Monday night. What TV channel is it on? The match and draw will be on BT Sport 1 and BBC 2. Alternatively, you can follow the draw here. What's left of this weekend's action? First-round review Exeter assistant manager Matt Oakley was delighted to progress to round two of the FA Cup after seeing his side see off gallant Heybridge Swifts 3-1 at St James' Park. Two Jayden Stockley goals shortly past the hour mark gave the Grecians a commanding lead, but Samuel Bentick turned in a cross to reduce the arrears and give the Swifts hope. But any hopes of a comeback were ended by Liam McAlinden, whose shot squeezed through the legs of goalkeeper Danny Sambridge, much to the relief of Oakley, who was standing in for the absent Paul Tisdale. "I'm very pleased. It was a banana skin waiting to happen for us, when you see the draw come out," Oakley said. Relief for Exeter as they see off Heybridge Swifts Credit: PA "I am very pleased with the result, very pleased with the second half performance and pleased to come in at half-time with a clean sheet. "We had a very difficult time at Warrington a few years ago when we conceded after a few minutes and we couldn't break them down after that. It was one of the messages we talked about before the game, so I was very pleased. "They put us under a lot of pressure and probably came out after the first half with a bit more confidence than we did. I thought we started the game really well, I was really pleased with the start, but then we started losing the ball and a few misplaced touches and they grew in confidence and came into it. "They didn't threaten our goal too much, so I wasn't too worried about it. We just needed to tighten up in certain areas and improve our attacking play in wide areas and we did that well in the second half." What are the draw numbers? STEVENAGE BRADFORD CITY PORT VALE NEWPORT COUNTY MORECAMBE YEOVIL TOWN PETERBOROUGH UNITED OR TRANMERE ROVERS CAMBRIDGE UNITED FOREST GREEN ROVERS AFC FYLDE LUTON TOWN SHREWSBURY TOWN HEREFORD GUISELEY OR ACCRINGTON STANLEY BLACKBURN ROVERS DONCASTER ROVERS LEATHERHEAD OR BILLERICAY TOWN BOREHAM WOOD MANSFIELD TOWN OXFORD CITY PLYMOUTH ARGYLE AFC WIMBLEDON ROCHDALE COVENTRY CITY CHORLEY OR FLEETWOOD TOWN CARLISLE UNITED NOTTS COUNTY SWINDON TOWN MAIDSTONE UNITED WOKING OR BURY CREWE ALEXANDRA GILLINGHAM MILTON KEYNES DONS SLOUGH TOWN WYCOMBE WANDERERS NORTHAMPTON TOWN OR SCUNTHORPE UNITED CHARLTON ATHELTIC WIGAN ATHLETIC GATESHEAD EXETER CITY When will the second round fixtures take place? Weekend of December 2 and 3. What are the latest FA Cup odds? Chelsea - 5/1 Man City - 5/1 Man Utd - 6/1 Tottenham - 8/1 Arsenal - 8/1 Liverpool - 9/1

The failure by some to cooperate with the independent review into the game’s child sexual abuse scandal was laid bare again on Monday night after it emerged six County Football Associations had not responded to requests for information five months after being asked to do so. Following the revelation in May that eight professional clubs had missed two deadlines over four months to tell investigators what they knew, it transpired that six of the 46 County FAs had also ignored more than one attempt to contact them, putting them at risk of disciplinary action. The inquiry team, led by Clive Sheldon QC, was forced last week to contact the Football Association itself to ask it to act over what one source branded “inertia” on the part of several counties, something that as of last night had the desired effect on only two out of the six in question. They had originally been written to on May 11 and given a deadline of June 1 to respond, with those which failed to meet that contacted again on June 21. The six outstanding counties were also sent reminders more recently to provide information which could be vital to an inquiry which is investigating what FA chairman Greg Clarke has admitted is the biggest crisis he could recall the game facing. The probe will examine how it dealt with the alleged abuse of schoolboy players between 1970 and 2005, whether there was any cover-up, and even whether a paedophile ring operated in the game. It also transpired that the final report by Sheldon had been delayed until at least Easter after the process of examining up to five million documents in an FA archive proved more arduous than anticipated. Sheldon and his team, who had originally planned to report early next year, had also managed to interview only 15 survivors of abuse - there are 741 potential victims according to the most recent police figures - and 35 other persons of interest. Alleged victims spoken to include former internationals, although sources refused to confirm whether Matt Le Tissier, David White and Paul Stewart - all of whom had gone public - had been among them. Survivors’ stories were said to have been “harrowing”, with Sheldon and his team - as well as victims - requiring counselling as a result. Meetings were planned yesterday with a further 20-30 survivors, as well as with other persons of interest, with the inquiry restricted in who it could talk to due to ongoing criminal investigations and the upcoming trials of former Crewe Alexandra coach Barry Bennell and ex-Southampton youth coach Bob Higgins. Sources close to the investigation confirmed suspended Crewe director of football Dario Gradi - who denies covering up abuse claims - had been on a list of intended interviewees but refused to reveal whether he had been spoken to yet. Former Aston Villa assistant manager Dave Richardson is also a person of interest after the inquiry was told by one victim, Tony Brien, that former England boss Graham Taylor was involved in a cover-up while at the club. No one approached so far has openly refused to co-operate with the inquiry. The Bennell and Higgins trials early next year could also limit either what Sheldon says about allegations against each of them in his report or what the FA is able to publish of his findings. His report is likely to focus on case studies of 10-12 clubs to paint a picture of the game’s handling of claims of child abuse during the years covered by the inquiry, amid the impossibility of speaking to every potential victim and witness.

FA Cup first round draw: Hyde United (eighth tier) host MK Dons

7:28PM And that's the draw The excitement is over! No more balls will be drawn! Morecambe vs Hartlepool is pretty good, Doncaster will visit either East Thurrock or Ebsfleet. Hyde vs MK Dons is a brilliant tie for the minnows. I was really hoping for a Slough vs Swindon draw, purely for Office quotes. 7:25PM Eighth tier Hyde will play MK Dons! The crowd goes wild in the BBC studio as the draw is announced. That's the big club the players wanted. 7:24PM Lads, can we please have some music Or something. This draw is not one of the most exciting things I've ever seen on television. That Liverpool vs Man Utd game on Saturday was more entertaining. 7:21PM AFC Wimbledon vs Lincoln City AFC Wimbledon are one of the clubs to have benefited immensely from TV money brought by the FA Cup and they are drawn against Lincoln City. 7:19PM Some more fixtures for you Peterborough Utd v Tranmere Cambridge Utd v Sutton Utd Forest Green Rovers v Macclesfield Town AFC Fylde v Kidderminster Harriers Luton v Portsmouth Shrewsbury v Aldershot Hereford v AFC Telford Utd Guiseley v Accrington Stanley Blackburn Rovers v Barnet 7:16PM No huge match ups so far Bradford City v Chesterfield Port Vale v Oxford Utd Newport County v Walsall Morecambe v Hartlepool Utd 7:14PM And it's set of balls number eight And Lancelot is the FA Cup draw machine for tonight. What a hilarious National Lottery joke. And the first fixture is Stevenage vs Nantwich or Kettering. IT'S ALL KICKING OFF NOW, CLIVE. 7:12PM Your Davids, your Goliaths Hyde, Heybridge Swifts and Ossett Town are the lowest ranked teams in the competition, with all three occupying the eighth tier of English football. 7:10PM David Sharpe The Wigan chairman, grandson of Dave Whelan, fancies Wigan's chances this season. And now it's time for the draw! 7:05PM Who do the small teams want to get in the draw? According to a couple of Hyde football staff (manager and player), the management want to play against a team they can probably beat whereas the players want to draw Blackburn or Charlton - one of the 'big' clubs. Hyde actually own the record for biggest defeat in the FA Cup. A 26-0 hiding (see what I did) by Preston North End. 7:00PM The live coverage begins! Here we go. The draw is being held at Hyde United's ground. Look how cool their sun was earlier: Red sun today. FA Cup draw at Hyde United. Is that an omen. #EmiratesFACuppic.twitter.com/LoZ27mZjKW— Hyde United FC (@hydeunited) October 16, 2017 6:47PM The difference the FA Cup actually makes I wrote this in January about just how much an FA Cup run is worth to a small club. It turns out the answer is everything. The FA awards a prize of £1.8million to the winners of the competition, the kind of short-change a Champions League club might use as a sweetener for a promising youth prospect’s signing-on fee. For non-league side Curzon Ashton just qualifying for the second round of the competition will, and has, had an enormous impact. Image Landscape Portrait Square Original/Custom Edit Selected Crop... Caption: Description: curzon ashton Agency: GETTY IMAGES Artist: Edit... Delete “It means so much to us a club,” says their CEO Natalie Atkinson. “The FA Cup is enabling us, through prize money, funds gained and TV money to work with the FA and football foundations to replace our 3G pitch next to the stadium.” Curzon Ashton, currently 15th in the National League North, lost 4-3 to AFC Wimbledon in December, conceding four goals in the final 10 minutes of the game. The prize for qualifying for the second round was £27,000, in addition to £18,000 earned from the first round. Those sucker-punch goals prevented a windfall of £67,500 for making it to third round. However, thanks to the wonder of television money, the club received more for their defeat to Wimbledon than they would have if they’d won a non-televised second round match. There's more on the article, if you fancy clicking on it. 6:30PM The magic of the cup This most holy of trophies always produces magical moments and even if a guilty few/most don't pay attention to the competition until their team is involved, those matches between minnows of the lower leagues and giants of... in this case, League One, are always thoroughly enjoyable. Sutton are looking to make a lot more money from another (pie free) run at the cup this year, Accrington Stanley's involvement will be upping the YouTube view count on this milk advert, and today is the first time I have ever heard of Gainsborough Trinity. Perhaps they will become my new favourite non-league - maybe they'll be yours! It all depends who has to play who - and which of those games the people in charge at BBC decide to broadcast... 6:15PM Good evening! Hello there sports fans. Welcome to our live coverage of what is sure to be a riveting FA Cup first round draw. The action will kick-off at 7:10pm and we'll keep you up to date with the draw as it happens. For right now, that wait should give you time to look at all the nice photographs of that weird looking sun from earlier today. It was like being in Blade Runner. 6:09PM Preview What is it? It's the draw for the first round proper of the FA Cup: the oldest competition in world football. The first round sees the 48 teams from League One and League Two joined by 32 non-league sides. When is it? Monday October 16. What time is it? The draw itself will begin at 7:10pm on Monday evening. The first round of the FA Cup will take place on Saturday November 4 Credit: AP What TV channel is it on? The draw will be broadcast live on both BBC Two and BT Sport. Mark Chapman will present the BBC's coverage of the draw in half-hour long episode from 7pm, while BT Sport 3's show will also begin at 7pm. When will the matches take place? The first round will take place over the weekend of Friday November 3 to Monday 6 November 2017 Who's in the hat? Sutton United made it to the fifth round of the FA Cup last season Credit: Getty Images Three teams from the eighth tier of English football are among the non-league teams in the hat for the first round. Hyde United, who play in the Northern Premier League, beat Scarborough Athletic on Sunday afternoon to book their place in the competition. Hampton and Richmond, who are coached by Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler, failed in their bid to reach the FA Cup proper after losing to National League South rivals Truro City. Truro's 2-0 victory over their league rivals means they become the first Cornwal team to reach the FA Cup first round since 1969. Billericay Town, whose current players include Jamie O'Hara, Paul Konchesky and Jermaine Pennant, will also take their place in the draw. FA Cup first round numbers 1 ACCRINGTON STANLEY 2 AFC WIMBLEDON 3 BARNET 4 BLACKBURN ROVERS 5 BLACKPOOL 6 BRADFORD CITY 7 BRISTOL ROVERS 8 BURY 9 CAMBRIDGE UNITED 10 CARLISLE UNITED 11 CHARLTON ATHLETIC 12 CHELTENHAM TOWN 13 CHESTERFIELD 14 COLCHESTER UNITED 15 COVENTRY CITY 16 CRAWLEY TOWN 17 CREWE ALEXANDRA 18 DONCASTER ROVERS 19 EXETER CITY 20 FLEETWOOD TOWN 21 FOREST GREEN ROVERS 22 GILLINGHAM 23 GRIMSBY TOWN 24 LINCOLN CITY 25 LUTON TOWN 26 MANSFIELD TOWN 27 MILTON KEYNES DONS 28 MORECAMBE 29 NEWPORT COUNTY 30 NORTHAMPTON TOWN 31 NOTTS COUNTY 32 OLDHAM ATHLETIC 33 OXFORD UNITED 34 PETERBOROUGH UNITED 35 PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 36 PORT VALE 37 PORTSMOUTH 38 ROCHDALE 39 ROTHERHAM UNITED 40 SCUNTHORPE UNITED 41 SHREWSBURY TOWN 42 SOUTHEND UNITED 43 STEVENAGE 44 SWINDON TOWN 45 WALSALL 46 WIGAN ATHLETIC 47 WYCOMBE WANDERERS 48 YEOVIL TOWN 49 TRANMERE ROVERS 50 SOLIHULL MOORS OR OSSETT TOWN 51 HARTLEPOOL UNITED 52 SHAW LANE ASSOCIATION 53 CHORLEY OR BOSTON UNITED 54 AFC TELFORD UNITED 55 GAINSBOROUGH TRINITY 56 NANTWICH TOWN OR KETTERING TOWN 57 GATESHEAD 58 GUISELEY 59 AFC FYLDE 60 KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS 61 HYDE UNITED 62 MACCLESFIELD TOWN 63 BRACKLEY TOWN OR BILLERICAY TOWN 64 DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE OR LEYTON ORIENT 65 HEREFORD 66 ALDERSHOT TOWN 67 BATH CITY OR CHELMSFORD CITY 68 OXFORD CITY 69 MAIDENHEAD UNITED 70 HEYBRIDGE SWIFTS 71 WOKING OR CONCORD RANGERS 72 TRURO CITY 73 DOVER ATHLETIC OR BROMLEY 74 SLOUGH TOWN 75 DARTFORD 76 BOREHAM WOOD 77 MAIDSTONE UNITED OR ENFIELD TOWN 78 LEATHERHEAD 79 SUTTON UNITED 80 EAST THURROCK UNITED OR EBBSFLEET UNITED

FA Cup first round draw: Hyde United (eighth tier) host MK Dons

7:28PM And that's the draw The excitement is over! No more balls will be drawn! Morecambe vs Hartlepool is pretty good, Doncaster will visit either East Thurrock or Ebsfleet. Hyde vs MK Dons is a brilliant tie for the minnows. I was really hoping for a Slough vs Swindon draw, purely for Office quotes. 7:25PM Eighth tier Hyde will play MK Dons! The crowd goes wild in the BBC studio as the draw is announced. That's the big club the players wanted. 7:24PM Lads, can we please have some music Or something. This draw is not one of the most exciting things I've ever seen on television. That Liverpool vs Man Utd game on Saturday was more entertaining. 7:21PM AFC Wimbledon vs Lincoln City AFC Wimbledon are one of the clubs to have benefited immensely from TV money brought by the FA Cup and they are drawn against Lincoln City. 7:19PM Some more fixtures for you Peterborough Utd v Tranmere Cambridge Utd v Sutton Utd Forest Green Rovers v Macclesfield Town AFC Fylde v Kidderminster Harriers Luton v Portsmouth Shrewsbury v Aldershot Hereford v AFC Telford Utd Guiseley v Accrington Stanley Blackburn Rovers v Barnet 7:16PM No huge match ups so far Bradford City v Chesterfield Port Vale v Oxford Utd Newport County v Walsall Morecambe v Hartlepool Utd 7:14PM And it's set of balls number eight And Lancelot is the FA Cup draw machine for tonight. What a hilarious National Lottery joke. And the first fixture is Stevenage vs Nantwich or Kettering. IT'S ALL KICKING OFF NOW, CLIVE. 7:12PM Your Davids, your Goliaths Hyde, Heybridge Swifts and Ossett Town are the lowest ranked teams in the competition, with all three occupying the eighth tier of English football. 7:10PM David Sharpe The Wigan chairman, grandson of Dave Whelan, fancies Wigan's chances this season. And now it's time for the draw! 7:05PM Who do the small teams want to get in the draw? According to a couple of Hyde football staff (manager and player), the management want to play against a team they can probably beat whereas the players want to draw Blackburn or Charlton - one of the 'big' clubs. Hyde actually own the record for biggest defeat in the FA Cup. A 26-0 hiding (see what I did) by Preston North End. 7:00PM The live coverage begins! Here we go. The draw is being held at Hyde United's ground. Look how cool their sun was earlier: Red sun today. FA Cup draw at Hyde United. Is that an omen. #EmiratesFACuppic.twitter.com/LoZ27mZjKW— Hyde United FC (@hydeunited) October 16, 2017 6:47PM The difference the FA Cup actually makes I wrote this in January about just how much an FA Cup run is worth to a small club. It turns out the answer is everything. The FA awards a prize of £1.8million to the winners of the competition, the kind of short-change a Champions League club might use as a sweetener for a promising youth prospect’s signing-on fee. For non-league side Curzon Ashton just qualifying for the second round of the competition will, and has, had an enormous impact. Image Landscape Portrait Square Original/Custom Edit Selected Crop... Caption: Description: curzon ashton Agency: GETTY IMAGES Artist: Edit... Delete “It means so much to us a club,” says their CEO Natalie Atkinson. “The FA Cup is enabling us, through prize money, funds gained and TV money to work with the FA and football foundations to replace our 3G pitch next to the stadium.” Curzon Ashton, currently 15th in the National League North, lost 4-3 to AFC Wimbledon in December, conceding four goals in the final 10 minutes of the game. The prize for qualifying for the second round was £27,000, in addition to £18,000 earned from the first round. Those sucker-punch goals prevented a windfall of £67,500 for making it to third round. However, thanks to the wonder of television money, the club received more for their defeat to Wimbledon than they would have if they’d won a non-televised second round match. There's more on the article, if you fancy clicking on it. 6:30PM The magic of the cup This most holy of trophies always produces magical moments and even if a guilty few/most don't pay attention to the competition until their team is involved, those matches between minnows of the lower leagues and giants of... in this case, League One, are always thoroughly enjoyable. Sutton are looking to make a lot more money from another (pie free) run at the cup this year, Accrington Stanley's involvement will be upping the YouTube view count on this milk advert, and today is the first time I have ever heard of Gainsborough Trinity. Perhaps they will become my new favourite non-league - maybe they'll be yours! It all depends who has to play who - and which of those games the people in charge at BBC decide to broadcast... 6:15PM Good evening! Hello there sports fans. Welcome to our live coverage of what is sure to be a riveting FA Cup first round draw. The action will kick-off at 7:10pm and we'll keep you up to date with the draw as it happens. For right now, that wait should give you time to look at all the nice photographs of that weird looking sun from earlier today. It was like being in Blade Runner. 6:09PM Preview What is it? It's the draw for the first round proper of the FA Cup: the oldest competition in world football. The first round sees the 48 teams from League One and League Two joined by 32 non-league sides. When is it? Monday October 16. What time is it? The draw itself will begin at 7:10pm on Monday evening. The first round of the FA Cup will take place on Saturday November 4 Credit: AP What TV channel is it on? The draw will be broadcast live on both BBC Two and BT Sport. Mark Chapman will present the BBC's coverage of the draw in half-hour long episode from 7pm, while BT Sport 3's show will also begin at 7pm. When will the matches take place? The first round will take place over the weekend of Friday November 3 to Monday 6 November 2017 Who's in the hat? Sutton United made it to the fifth round of the FA Cup last season Credit: Getty Images Three teams from the eighth tier of English football are among the non-league teams in the hat for the first round. Hyde United, who play in the Northern Premier League, beat Scarborough Athletic on Sunday afternoon to book their place in the competition. Hampton and Richmond, who are coached by Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler, failed in their bid to reach the FA Cup proper after losing to National League South rivals Truro City. Truro's 2-0 victory over their league rivals means they become the first Cornwal team to reach the FA Cup first round since 1969. Billericay Town, whose current players include Jamie O'Hara, Paul Konchesky and Jermaine Pennant, will also take their place in the draw. FA Cup first round numbers 1 ACCRINGTON STANLEY 2 AFC WIMBLEDON 3 BARNET 4 BLACKBURN ROVERS 5 BLACKPOOL 6 BRADFORD CITY 7 BRISTOL ROVERS 8 BURY 9 CAMBRIDGE UNITED 10 CARLISLE UNITED 11 CHARLTON ATHLETIC 12 CHELTENHAM TOWN 13 CHESTERFIELD 14 COLCHESTER UNITED 15 COVENTRY CITY 16 CRAWLEY TOWN 17 CREWE ALEXANDRA 18 DONCASTER ROVERS 19 EXETER CITY 20 FLEETWOOD TOWN 21 FOREST GREEN ROVERS 22 GILLINGHAM 23 GRIMSBY TOWN 24 LINCOLN CITY 25 LUTON TOWN 26 MANSFIELD TOWN 27 MILTON KEYNES DONS 28 MORECAMBE 29 NEWPORT COUNTY 30 NORTHAMPTON TOWN 31 NOTTS COUNTY 32 OLDHAM ATHLETIC 33 OXFORD UNITED 34 PETERBOROUGH UNITED 35 PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 36 PORT VALE 37 PORTSMOUTH 38 ROCHDALE 39 ROTHERHAM UNITED 40 SCUNTHORPE UNITED 41 SHREWSBURY TOWN 42 SOUTHEND UNITED 43 STEVENAGE 44 SWINDON TOWN 45 WALSALL 46 WIGAN ATHLETIC 47 WYCOMBE WANDERERS 48 YEOVIL TOWN 49 TRANMERE ROVERS 50 SOLIHULL MOORS OR OSSETT TOWN 51 HARTLEPOOL UNITED 52 SHAW LANE ASSOCIATION 53 CHORLEY OR BOSTON UNITED 54 AFC TELFORD UNITED 55 GAINSBOROUGH TRINITY 56 NANTWICH TOWN OR KETTERING TOWN 57 GATESHEAD 58 GUISELEY 59 AFC FYLDE 60 KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS 61 HYDE UNITED 62 MACCLESFIELD TOWN 63 BRACKLEY TOWN OR BILLERICAY TOWN 64 DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE OR LEYTON ORIENT 65 HEREFORD 66 ALDERSHOT TOWN 67 BATH CITY OR CHELMSFORD CITY 68 OXFORD CITY 69 MAIDENHEAD UNITED 70 HEYBRIDGE SWIFTS 71 WOKING OR CONCORD RANGERS 72 TRURO CITY 73 DOVER ATHLETIC OR BROMLEY 74 SLOUGH TOWN 75 DARTFORD 76 BOREHAM WOOD 77 MAIDSTONE UNITED OR ENFIELD TOWN 78 LEATHERHEAD 79 SUTTON UNITED 80 EAST THURROCK UNITED OR EBBSFLEET UNITED

FA Cup first round draw: Hyde United (eighth tier) host MK Dons

7:28PM And that's the draw The excitement is over! No more balls will be drawn! Morecambe vs Hartlepool is pretty good, Doncaster will visit either East Thurrock or Ebsfleet. Hyde vs MK Dons is a brilliant tie for the minnows. I was really hoping for a Slough vs Swindon draw, purely for Office quotes. 7:25PM Eighth tier Hyde will play MK Dons! The crowd goes wild in the BBC studio as the draw is announced. That's the big club the players wanted. 7:24PM Lads, can we please have some music Or something. This draw is not one of the most exciting things I've ever seen on television. That Liverpool vs Man Utd game on Saturday was more entertaining. 7:21PM AFC Wimbledon vs Lincoln City AFC Wimbledon are one of the clubs to have benefited immensely from TV money brought by the FA Cup and they are drawn against Lincoln City. 7:19PM Some more fixtures for you Peterborough Utd v Tranmere Cambridge Utd v Sutton Utd Forest Green Rovers v Macclesfield Town AFC Fylde v Kidderminster Harriers Luton v Portsmouth Shrewsbury v Aldershot Hereford v AFC Telford Utd Guiseley v Accrington Stanley Blackburn Rovers v Barnet 7:16PM No huge match ups so far Bradford City v Chesterfield Port Vale v Oxford Utd Newport County v Walsall Morecambe v Hartlepool Utd 7:14PM And it's set of balls number eight And Lancelot is the FA Cup draw machine for tonight. What a hilarious National Lottery joke. And the first fixture is Stevenage vs Nantwich or Kettering. IT'S ALL KICKING OFF NOW, CLIVE. 7:12PM Your Davids, your Goliaths Hyde, Heybridge Swifts and Ossett Town are the lowest ranked teams in the competition, with all three occupying the eighth tier of English football. 7:10PM David Sharpe The Wigan chairman, grandson of Dave Whelan, fancies Wigan's chances this season. And now it's time for the draw! 7:05PM Who do the small teams want to get in the draw? According to a couple of Hyde football staff (manager and player), the management want to play against a team they can probably beat whereas the players want to draw Blackburn or Charlton - one of the 'big' clubs. Hyde actually own the record for biggest defeat in the FA Cup. A 26-0 hiding (see what I did) by Preston North End. 7:00PM The live coverage begins! Here we go. The draw is being held at Hyde United's ground. Look how cool their sun was earlier: Red sun today. FA Cup draw at Hyde United. Is that an omen. #EmiratesFACuppic.twitter.com/LoZ27mZjKW— Hyde United FC (@hydeunited) October 16, 2017 6:47PM The difference the FA Cup actually makes I wrote this in January about just how much an FA Cup run is worth to a small club. It turns out the answer is everything. The FA awards a prize of £1.8million to the winners of the competition, the kind of short-change a Champions League club might use as a sweetener for a promising youth prospect’s signing-on fee. For non-league side Curzon Ashton just qualifying for the second round of the competition will, and has, had an enormous impact. Image Landscape Portrait Square Original/Custom Edit Selected Crop... Caption: Description: curzon ashton Agency: GETTY IMAGES Artist: Edit... Delete “It means so much to us a club,” says their CEO Natalie Atkinson. “The FA Cup is enabling us, through prize money, funds gained and TV money to work with the FA and football foundations to replace our 3G pitch next to the stadium.” Curzon Ashton, currently 15th in the National League North, lost 4-3 to AFC Wimbledon in December, conceding four goals in the final 10 minutes of the game. The prize for qualifying for the second round was £27,000, in addition to £18,000 earned from the first round. Those sucker-punch goals prevented a windfall of £67,500 for making it to third round. However, thanks to the wonder of television money, the club received more for their defeat to Wimbledon than they would have if they’d won a non-televised second round match. There's more on the article, if you fancy clicking on it. 6:30PM The magic of the cup This most holy of trophies always produces magical moments and even if a guilty few/most don't pay attention to the competition until their team is involved, those matches between minnows of the lower leagues and giants of... in this case, League One, are always thoroughly enjoyable. Sutton are looking to make a lot more money from another (pie free) run at the cup this year, Accrington Stanley's involvement will be upping the YouTube view count on this milk advert, and today is the first time I have ever heard of Gainsborough Trinity. Perhaps they will become my new favourite non-league - maybe they'll be yours! It all depends who has to play who - and which of those games the people in charge at BBC decide to broadcast... 6:15PM Good evening! Hello there sports fans. Welcome to our live coverage of what is sure to be a riveting FA Cup first round draw. The action will kick-off at 7:10pm and we'll keep you up to date with the draw as it happens. For right now, that wait should give you time to look at all the nice photographs of that weird looking sun from earlier today. It was like being in Blade Runner. 6:09PM Preview What is it? It's the draw for the first round proper of the FA Cup: the oldest competition in world football. The first round sees the 48 teams from League One and League Two joined by 32 non-league sides. When is it? Monday October 16. What time is it? The draw itself will begin at 7:10pm on Monday evening. The first round of the FA Cup will take place on Saturday November 4 Credit: AP What TV channel is it on? The draw will be broadcast live on both BBC Two and BT Sport. Mark Chapman will present the BBC's coverage of the draw in half-hour long episode from 7pm, while BT Sport 3's show will also begin at 7pm. When will the matches take place? The first round will take place over the weekend of Friday November 3 to Monday 6 November 2017 Who's in the hat? Sutton United made it to the fifth round of the FA Cup last season Credit: Getty Images Three teams from the eighth tier of English football are among the non-league teams in the hat for the first round. Hyde United, who play in the Northern Premier League, beat Scarborough Athletic on Sunday afternoon to book their place in the competition. Hampton and Richmond, who are coached by Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler, failed in their bid to reach the FA Cup proper after losing to National League South rivals Truro City. Truro's 2-0 victory over their league rivals means they become the first Cornwal team to reach the FA Cup first round since 1969. Billericay Town, whose current players include Jamie O'Hara, Paul Konchesky and Jermaine Pennant, will also take their place in the draw. FA Cup first round numbers 1 ACCRINGTON STANLEY 2 AFC WIMBLEDON 3 BARNET 4 BLACKBURN ROVERS 5 BLACKPOOL 6 BRADFORD CITY 7 BRISTOL ROVERS 8 BURY 9 CAMBRIDGE UNITED 10 CARLISLE UNITED 11 CHARLTON ATHLETIC 12 CHELTENHAM TOWN 13 CHESTERFIELD 14 COLCHESTER UNITED 15 COVENTRY CITY 16 CRAWLEY TOWN 17 CREWE ALEXANDRA 18 DONCASTER ROVERS 19 EXETER CITY 20 FLEETWOOD TOWN 21 FOREST GREEN ROVERS 22 GILLINGHAM 23 GRIMSBY TOWN 24 LINCOLN CITY 25 LUTON TOWN 26 MANSFIELD TOWN 27 MILTON KEYNES DONS 28 MORECAMBE 29 NEWPORT COUNTY 30 NORTHAMPTON TOWN 31 NOTTS COUNTY 32 OLDHAM ATHLETIC 33 OXFORD UNITED 34 PETERBOROUGH UNITED 35 PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 36 PORT VALE 37 PORTSMOUTH 38 ROCHDALE 39 ROTHERHAM UNITED 40 SCUNTHORPE UNITED 41 SHREWSBURY TOWN 42 SOUTHEND UNITED 43 STEVENAGE 44 SWINDON TOWN 45 WALSALL 46 WIGAN ATHLETIC 47 WYCOMBE WANDERERS 48 YEOVIL TOWN 49 TRANMERE ROVERS 50 SOLIHULL MOORS OR OSSETT TOWN 51 HARTLEPOOL UNITED 52 SHAW LANE ASSOCIATION 53 CHORLEY OR BOSTON UNITED 54 AFC TELFORD UNITED 55 GAINSBOROUGH TRINITY 56 NANTWICH TOWN OR KETTERING TOWN 57 GATESHEAD 58 GUISELEY 59 AFC FYLDE 60 KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS 61 HYDE UNITED 62 MACCLESFIELD TOWN 63 BRACKLEY TOWN OR BILLERICAY TOWN 64 DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE OR LEYTON ORIENT 65 HEREFORD 66 ALDERSHOT TOWN 67 BATH CITY OR CHELMSFORD CITY 68 OXFORD CITY 69 MAIDENHEAD UNITED 70 HEYBRIDGE SWIFTS 71 WOKING OR CONCORD RANGERS 72 TRURO CITY 73 DOVER ATHLETIC OR BROMLEY 74 SLOUGH TOWN 75 DARTFORD 76 BOREHAM WOOD 77 MAIDSTONE UNITED OR ENFIELD TOWN 78 LEATHERHEAD 79 SUTTON UNITED 80 EAST THURROCK UNITED OR EBBSFLEET UNITED

Neil Lennon subject to death threats after his celebration of Hibernian scoring against Rangers prompts police inquiries

Neil Lennon is back on the familiar territory of death threats, controversy and outrage - faux though much of the latter might be. During his time as a combative midfielder for Celtic and then, when manager of the club, he was subject to two assaults in the streets of Glasgow, another on the side of the pitch at Tynecastle and was the subject of threatening packages and bullets sent through the mail. The latest episode follows Saturday’s volatile clash between Rangers and Hibernian at Ibrox, which the Easter Road side won 3-2. During his celebrations of Hibs’ goals, Lennon made a pumped arm gesture towards the fans behind his technical area, who were responsible for what is understood to have been sustained invective directed towards him earlier in the proceedings. Lennon’s response – commonly known in Glasgow as the ‘gerrit up ye’ gesture – prompted complaints to Police Scotland, whose spokesperson confirmed receipt of the fans’ grievances and said: “Enquiries are being conducted.” Club 1872 – the Rangers supporter and shareholding group – also issued a statement condemning Lennon for his behaviour which, after the fashion of Jane Austen, they described as “not becoming of any football manager.” The statement also said of Lennon that he was “one who likes to play the victim when things do not go his way” before adding - without evident irony - that his actions occurred “against the backdrop of possibly the worst refereeing performance ever seen at Ibrox”. The Club 1872 statement also reminded “our supporters of their duty to act as ambassadors for our club”, an admonition which did evidently did not penetrate as far down the diplomatic corps as Lennon was subject to death threats on Facebook. Hibs players celebrate during the 3-2 win against Rangers on Saturday Police Scotland said: “We are aware of offensive and threatening comments on social media directed at a named individual.” The Scottish Football Association, meanwhile, will review footage of the game, during which the Rangers midfielder, Ryan Jack, was sent off while five of his colleagues and three Hibs players were cautioned. Lennon’s actions are likely to feature in the scrutiny, although he is not currently expected to prompt any fast track procedure by the SFA compliance officer, Tony McGlennan. During the game, Rangers’ assistant manager, Helder Baptista, complained to a police officer, seemingly about Lennon, who said afterwards: “He should have got back in his box. Funnily enough he didn’t have something to say to me. I don’t know what he said. I assume he was unhappy with something. “There were a few things that went on in their dugout I was unhappy about but I didn’t go running off to the police and tell them about it.” Those whose interest extends to the sociological aspects of the controversy might observe that context is crucial to the perception of gestures. When the Commonwealth Games were held in Glasgow in 2014, Alex ‘Tattie’ Marshall – a member of the Scotland lawn bowls team and a favourite with the home crowd – marked his winning shots in the men’s pairs semi-final against England with an action similar to that of Lennon at Ibrox, in response to a group of spectators who had been heckling him. Marshall, though, attracted no condemnation for his action. Likewise, it might be assumed that Glasgow brings out the provocative side of Lennon’s character – or it might be the other way around – when one considers that his stints with Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Nottingham Forest did not generate death threats or cautionary visits from the constabulary. On the other hand, it can also be said that Lennon – and his detractors – have done Pedro Caixinha a favour by diverting attention from the Rangers manager’s failure to plug the gap left by Jack’s dismissal against a Hibs side which had an extra man in midfield prior to the player’s enforced departure. It is, as they say, an ill wind… Pick your free Telegraph Fantasy Football team now and start scoring from the next kick-off >>